As with elsewhere in the world, pollinators of native species in the SWAFR are experiencing declines in abundance, geographic range, and genetic connectivity due to habitat loss and fragmentation, climate change and associated increase in fire frequency (Bezemer et al., 2019 Campbell et al., 2022 Phillips et al., 2010 Prendergast, 2022). ![]() Here, approximately 15% of all plant species are pollinated by vertebrates (Brown et al., 1997 Keighery, 1980) with insects also providing key pollination services (i.e., Lunau et al., 2021 Menz et al., 2013). Such diversity is especially pronounced for the South-Western Australia's Floristic Region (SWAFR), a globally recognized biodiversity hotspot with over 8379 vascular plant species and high levels of endangerment (Gioia & Hopper, 2017). ![]() Many other vertebrate taxa, including birds (Krauss et al., 2018 Whelan et al., 2008), mammals (bats, primates, rodents, and marsupials Carthew & Goldingay, 1997 Kunz et al., 2011), and reptiles (lizards Olesen & Valido, 2003) are recognized as having important pollination impacts and effects on plant mating systems. Out of nearly 4000 studies relating to pollination ecology, 65% cited insects (Millard et al., 2020). Insects have historically been the most frequently studied pollinators, with a bias toward managed insects such as the European honey bee ( Apis mellifera). Consequently, there is an ever-growing need to increase our understanding of plant–animal interactions to ensure informed management decisions are made for species conservation and habitat restoration. ![]() These declines in wild insects and other animals, as well as the plants they interact with are driven by a combination of environmental and anthropogenic stressors (i.e., habitat loss, invasive species, and climate change Potts et al., 2010). The decline in native foraging resources threatens the resilience of remaining native pollinators, especially those with specialized plant relationships (Mola et al., 2021 although see Simanonok et al., 2021). For instance, native plant species in America have shown range declines between 3 and 50% (see MacKenzie et al., 2019), while some areas in Europe have seen over 125 plant species lost (see Finderup Nielsen et al., 2019). Concurrently, native plant communities globally are showing community shifts that are altering the availability of foraging and nesting resources for wild pollinating species (Scheper et al., 2014). For example, wild pollinator diversity has more than halved in some areas in Europe (see Biesmeijer et al., 2006) and some pollinator species in North America have fallen in relative abundance by over 95% (Jacobson et al., 2018). Concerningly, many of these potential pollinating species (scientifically described and undescribed) are experiencing rapid declines around the world (Rafferty, 2017 Regan et al., 2015 Sánchez-Bayo & Wyckhuys, 2019). The taxonomic identities and ecology for many of these pollinators remains, however, an area of on-going discovery (Forister et al., 2019 Knight et al., 2018). This opens avenues for rapid and efficient comparison of biodiversity and ecosystem health between different sites and may provide insights into surrogate pollinators in the event of pollinator declines.Ĭlose to 90% of all 400,000 flowering plant species are dependent on animals for pollination (Ollerton et al., 2011). The study demonstrates that the ease of sample collection and the robustness of the metabarcoding methodology has profound implications for future management of biodiversity, allowing us to monitor both plants and their attendant cohort of potential pollinators. The highest diversity of taxa was detected on large inflorescence flower types found on Banksia arborea and Grevillea georgeana. We also recorded the presence of a flower visit from a western pygmy possum to our knowledge this is the first eDNA metabarcoding study to simultaneously identify the interaction of insect, mammal, and bird species with flowers. eDNA metabarcoding using three assays, including one developed in this study to target common bush birds, recorded more animal species visiting flowers than visual surveys conducted concurrently, including birds, bees, and other species. ![]() Our study, collecting flowers from seven plant species with diverse floral morphologies, for eDNA metabarcoding analysis, illustrated the value of this novel survey tool. Pollinators can leave DNA on the flowers they visit, and metabarcoding of these environmental DNA (eDNA) traces provides an opportunity to detect the presence of flower visitors. However, many of these pollinating species are experiencing declines globally, making effective pollinator monitoring methods more important than ever before. Animal pollinators are vital for the reproduction of ~90% of flowering plants.
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